Improvement in street-sweeping machines



NA PETERS. PHQTmLITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D, C,

UNITED STATES PATENT QEEICE.

DANIEL SARGENT, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

Sp ecitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,116 l dated April25, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that l, D. SARGENT, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and Improved Street-Sweepin g Machine; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents alongitudinal vertical section of this invention, the line m tv, Fig. 2,indicating the plane of section. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of thesame.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class ofstreet-sweeping ma chines in which a rapidly-revolving brush is used forthe purpose of throwing the dirt on an inclined scoop. An endless chainof scrapers and brushes, extending over suitable wheels, serves to carrythe dirt up the inclined scoop and throw it in a box, which can bereadily opened or detached for the purpose of dumping its contents atthe proper place. The chainwheels are mounted on axles, the upper one ofwhich receives motion from the drivingwheel of the machine, and thismotion is communicated by the chain itself to the lower axle and from itby suitable gear-wheels to the revolving brush. The axle of the brushhas its bearings in three-armed levers, which are suspended and swingfreely up and down on the ends of the axle ofthe lower pair ofchainwheels, so that either the brush can be raised or loweredindependent of the scoop, or the scoop independent of the brush, without throwing the cog-wheels out of gear. The pinion which transmitsmotion from the driving- Wheel to the axle of the upper chain-wheels isso arranged that it can be thrown in-or out of gear with saiddriving-Wheel and the scoop and revolving brush are raised by anindependent set of hand-levers,bell-cranks, and rock-shafts so thatalltheworking parts of vthis machine are perfectly under the control ofthe operator.

A represents aframe, made of wood or any other suitable material andsupported by four wheels, B B* B/ two behind and two in frontas clearlyshown in the drawings. The wheels B B* turn loosely on the axle C, andthe axle B is provided with an internal gear, `a, by means of whichmotion is transmitted to the several working parts of the machine. Fromthe rear end of the frame A rise two standards, b, which form thebearings for the shaft D. Arranged on one end of this shaft is a pinion,c, in such a manner that it can be instantaneously thrown in or out ofgear with the internal gear, c, of the drivin g-wheelB, and there aremounted also on said shaft two chainwheels, d, at such a distance apartas the length of thescrapers c and brushes f requires. The Scrapersconsist of flat blades of sheet metal or anyl othersuitable material andthe backs of the brushes are secured to the chains g, which extend fromthe chain-wheels d on the shaft D, over corresponding chainwheels d', onthe shaft D. `This latter shaft has its bearings in journaLboxes h,secured to the edges of the side rails, t', of the scoop E, which ishinged to the frame A and extends down in an inclined position, as shownin Fig. l. The chains g run close to the inner surfaces of the siderails, t', of the scoop and in such a position that the edges which ispivoted to one of the standards b. u By depressing said hand-lever thescoop is raised, and if the hand-lever is secured under the spring-catch1J, the scoop is held in an elevated position so that the machine can bedriven from one place to another without obstruction from that source.The shaft D extendsthrough itsbearings, and on its outer ends are hungtwo three-armed levers or hangers, F, which form the bearings for theintermediateshaft G, and for the spindle of the brush H. This brushreceives motion from the shaft D bymeans of cog-wheels g r s, mounted,respectively, on the shaft D', intermediate shaft Gr, and spindle of thebrush, and the brush is vertically adjustable by a hand-lever, t, whichis pivoted to one of the standards b, opposite the hand-lever o, `andwhich connects by a rod, u, with an arm, o,

connected to a rock-shaft, l. A springcatch may be made to drop over andretain the hand-lever. From the rock shaft l extend two arms, w, whichconnect by rods y with the extreme ends of the threearmed levers,F, sothat by depressing the hand-lever t the brush is raised clear of theground.

It will be noticed that in lifting the brush the bearings of theintermediate shaft and of the brush-spindle describe circles round theshaft D', and the gear-wheels r, s, and q, will always remain in gear,whatever the relative position of the scoop and of the brush. A boX, I,suspended from ,and secured to the frame A, under the elevated end ofthe scoop, serves to collect the dirt taken up by the action ofthe brushand scoop.

In drawing the machine from one place to another, and when the same isnot to be used, the scoop and the brush are both elevated and held in anelevated position by causing the spring-catches p p to drop over them,and at the same time the pinion c is thrown out of gear with thedrivingwheel and all the working parts of the machine remain stationary;but when the machine has arrived in the street which is to be cleaned,the pinion c is thrown in gear with the driving-wheel and the scoop andbrush are lowered, and as the machine moves along the brush revolves andover the inclined surface of the scoop and deposited in the box I.

If the scoop or the brush meets with an unforseen obstruction, it can beeasily and instantaneously raised, without interrupting the operation ofthe machine.

It will also be noticed that the brush can be raised independent of thescoop, and the scoop independent of the brush, if it should be desiredto use either one of these parts in- -dependent of the other.

When the box I is full, the pinion is thrown out of gear, the brush andscoop are raised from the ground, and the machine is drawn to thedumpingground, or the box I may be made detachable, so that the full onecan be taken off and replaced by one that is empty, and in this case theoperation of the machine is not interrupted.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let` ters Patent- The adjustablescoop E and box I, in combination with the three-armed hangers F,adjustable brush H, rockshafts l l', hand-levers t, movable pinion C,and wheel B, constructed and operating substantially in the manner andfor the purpose herein sct forth.

DANIEL SARGENT.

Witnesses 1 M. M. LIVINGSTON, J. P. HALL.

